Hey – you haven’t missed it yet! Class starts today, and you can still sign up and be part of the fun.
Get your finances in order with Coach CindyR. Whether you need some basic budgeting guidelines or are looking for serious help figuring out your debt, this class can help you. (Really, Cindy is amazing.)
Get your body fit & fabulous with help from the Get Moving crowd! This group of members is full of encouragement to help you set and meet your fitness goals.
Share your budget-friendly recipes for tasty meals and even healthy homemade cleaning products and spa-at-home treatments.
Don’t let the day go by… sign up now and get to class!
(Note – posting in the daily thread each day of class gets you a chance at a free Vitamix!)
In our fast-paced world, we don’t always take time to appreciate the beauty that surrounds us.
Find ways to bring beauty into your daily life. Put a vase of flowers by your kitchen sink or in the bathroom (you know, where you spend time… what good do they do in the formal dining room?). Frame and hang a photo or print you love. Use your favorite fragrance; don’t save it for date night. Garnish your plates at mealtime – a slice of citrus fruit, a sprig of herb, a sprinkle of sliced almonds or sunflower seeds. Light candles for dinner (even when dinner is pizza). Smile.
Maybe it’s the warmer weather; maybe it’s the fact that we love our fitness classes and miss them on our days off; maybe it’s just the way some days pile it on and we need to let.it.all.out. (Ever have those days? Yeah. We do, too.)
So here’s an epic (and gloriously long) song from Meatloaf (who, coincidentally, had one of those days on Celebrity Apprentice last week). Dare you to dance the whole thing. Don’t panic; it’s almost written for an interval workout!
Get your financial life in order starting Monday, April 11th.
Spend ten weekdays with Coach CindyR, our finance and budget expert. Cindy has helped hundreds of people make sense of their finances – if you need help, this class is a great place to start.
Get tips for fiscal well-being in this class. Save your money so you can invest in your health – perhaps attending Kripalu with Marilu in July, or gifting a friend a membership here at Marilu.com (so you can take classes together), or buying your own Vitamix, or taking a vegan cooking class, or attending Dr. Furhman’s Health Getaway with Marilu, or… well, we could list a lot of other ways to invest in your health. Take the class and you’ll get the skills to allow you to make the choice!
Members are automatically enrolled in class – check your inbox on April 11th for the class email.
Not a member? Sign up now and you’ll have access to the members area and classes right away!
Pssst! You can still win a Vitamix if you get your friends to enroll! Details here.
Physical activity helps you manage weight loss while building healthy muscle. To lose about one pound a week (a safe pace) burn about 3500 calories a week (that’s 500 calories a day).
Here are some favorite warm-weather activities – find some you enjoy and get moving! These numbers are for 30 minutes of activity. The first number is for a 125-pound person, the second number is for a 155-pound person, and the third number is for a 185-pound person.
Basketball or Football *** 240 * 298 * 355
Bicycling (16-19 mph) *** 360 * 446 * 533
Gardening *** 139 * 172 * 205
Golf (carrying clubs) *** 165 * 205 * 244
Rock climbing, rappelling *** 240 * 298 * 355
Rope jumping *** 300 * 372 * 444
Running (6 mph) *** 300 * 372 * 444
Soccer or Tennis *** 210 * 260 * 311
Swimming (vigorous) *** 300 * 372 * 444
Volleyball *** 90 * 112 * 133
Walking (4.5 mph) *** 150 * 186 * 222
These numbers come from Harvard Medical School research.
For a vegan version, replace the chicken with a spicy-marinated tofu cut in strips.
Remember to rinse quinoa really well in a mesh strainer under running water before cooking it. It’s technically a seed, and it’s covered with a bitter coating to keep the birds away. Don’t you like how nature looks out for itself? Just rinse it well, and you can eat it.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ South-of-the-Border Quinoa Salad Green * Serves 6
12 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, divided
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1-1/2 cups vegetable stock or broth
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
zest of one lemon
pinch of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon stone-ground mustard
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 large carrot, peeled and cut in matchstick-size sticks
1 medium jicama, peeled and cut in matchstick-size sticks
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
Put chicken in a resealable plastic storage bag. Pound chicken until thin. Combine oil, red pepper, cumin, and 2 Tablespoons lemon juice in a small bowl. Add chicken pieces. Cover and marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes or up to 2 hours. (If you use marinated tofu, just cut it in strips.)
Lightly oil a large saucepan and add chopped onion. Cook over medium-high heat until tender, about 5 minutes. Add stock, quinoa, lemon zest, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook until liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Cover and let stand an additional 5 minutes.
Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Grill chicken until instant-read thermometer registers 160F, turning once. Let it sit a few minutes, then cut into strips. (Skip this is you’re using the marinated tofu.)
Combine quinoa mixture, remaining 2 Tablespoons lemon juice, rice vinegar, mustard, and cilantro. Place in large bowl. Top with chicken and vegetables. Serve warm (especially good with the chicken) or cold.
Marilu attended the Natural Foods Expo in Los Angeles in mid-March. The Expo is a place to see and taste new products from established vendors, like Hain, Amy’s, and Burt’s Bees, as well as newer and smaller vendors.
One of the new products last year was Daiya, a cheese substitute made from tapioca flour, that melts well, and tastes like dairy cheese. This year, Teese was introduced as another tapioca-based cheese substitute. Marilu reports that it’s lighter than Daiya and “doesn’t have that stinky cheese smell.” It also comes in different flavors (cheddar, mozzarella, etc.). Look for it, or ask for it at your local store.
One of the favorite products at the Expo was Kim’s Magic Pop – a sort of rice cake (made of wheat, brown rice, and corn) that was put into a machine that puffed it full of air, so it grew to the size of a dessert plate. They come in different flavors, and are very low in calories and fat. They require the machine, so they sound like fair food, or something available at a food stand. Marilu’s son Joey and his friends especially enjoyed this. Let us know if you see Kim’s Magic Pop for sale anywhere!
Finally, a couple of impressions. Marilu’s report is that “the brats and the businessmen have taken over.” It seems that health food has made the ranks of Big Business. There were far more business people in attendance than in previous years. Many of these business people did not look healthy, and there were a lot more people smoking and drinking than usual. Getting health food into your local mainstream grocery store means a greater emphasis on the bottom line. Just something to be aware of.
The “brats” show up in the trends Marilu experienced in the new products – lots of baby foods, coconut-based products (coconut water is everywhere), and lots of bars – snack bars and meal-replacement bars and too-busy-to-cook bars. Vendors (or maybe it’s business people) seem to think we don’t want to cook anymore (because it’s too hard to cook some carrots or apples and mash them up for the baby?), or that we aren’t interested in whole foods, or real food. All the superfood substitutes, and processed chemical versions of actual food probably appeal to someone – but that’s not what we’re about here.
Real food is cheaper, of course. And it doesn’t need to be manufactured, just grown and shipped (unless you buy local, and then even the shipping is minimal). Support your local farmers, your local farmer’s market, and buy whole foods from your local health food or grocery store. It’s not hard to cook. We can help, if you need that (that’s what our forums are for). In fact, here’s a great recipe for making your own bars. Enjoy!
Here’s a tasty salad that’s easy to double or triple for entertaining or taking to parties. It’s easy to mix together if you have the cooked quinoa on hand. (We’re big fans of keeping cooked grains on hand – they store beautifully in the freezer.)
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ Chilled Avocado Salad Green * Serves 6
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1 avocado, pitted, peeled, and diced
1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled
1/2 cup black beans, cooked or canned (and drained)
1 large Roma tomato, seeded and diced
1 green onion, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
Whisk oil, vinegar, salt, oregano, and cumin in a large bowl. Add avocado and toss gently to coat.
Add quinoa, black beans, tomato, and green onion. Toss gently to mix. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.
